(Death City: Maka and Soul's Apartment)
The morning sun shone through the window of Evan's room, who nearly smashed his alarm clock upon waking up. Waking up for the past few days felt different now, with all of the Oozai nonsense and the awakening of the Kishin, two different worlds were opened to in his mind. To know that at any moment, one of these could spring out and attack gave him much trouble in terms of staying asleep. But things have been quiet from the Demon God and Fen, so for at least the time being there was nothing else to fear. All they could do was prepare, which DWMA already had in mind.
The two students went through their usual morning routine, gt dressed, and headed to their classes, just like any other day. When they arrived, a pair of humanoids in full body dark and purple suits, covered by plain white masks.
The day after Fen and his allies invaded, Zacharie had brought a number of his own servants to survey and protect Death City from any future Oozai attacks. Just like the first group, these magical beings were vaguely humanoid and multicolored, but these Oozai were entirely identical. Yes, you could say the ones we met so far look the same, but they at least had different clothes and unique features, while on the other hand, the ones Zach donned identical uniforms at all times, completely covering their bodies, meaning that each Oozai looked like a carbon copy of the other.
Maka and Soul entered the academy, not knowing what was going on just a few rooms away. Within Lord Death's office, he, Sid, and Zach were present.
Death: So, how's it going gathering the other Weapons?
Sid: Right, well Justin Law just got here this morning, so that makes four with the other two now.
Death: What about the one in Europe?
Sid: They're still on an important assignment in West Asia.
Death: Shoot, what about South America?
Sid: There was some language barrier, we couldn't get nothing but gibberish.
Death: And Africa?
Sid: They rejected all our calls.
Death: Ah. Well, four out of eight isn't that bad I guess, I just hope it's enough...
Zach: I understand your concerns, the Oozai have endured things just as chaotic as this Kishin. The history of our realm is that of war, it's only started to be peaceful recently.
???: Oh...bear me, my God.
A young blonde man entered the room. He looked like a priest, but instead of a cross, he wore a tiny skull necklace with a short dagger.
Death: Oh! Zacharie, this is Justin Law, one of the Weapons I mentioned.
Justin: What is this, I cannot hear the voice of my God? Why doest thou not grace me with thy words, dear God?
Zach: He must really see this guy as God himself, at least Pincher isn't that much of a fanatic.
Spirit, followed by Stein, walked in shortly after, followed by two unknown women.
Spirit: Hey! You got your headphones in still!
Justin: Huh?? Oh, right.
The priest took out a pair of earbuds
Justin: I apologize, it always seems to slip my mind.
Death: That's fine, what matters is you're all here now.
The Oozai looked at each new face, not exactly impressed, but the Humans has proven themselves anything but plain at this point.
Zacharie: So those three are some of your most powerful Death Weapons?
Death: Yep! Now, let's get to the matter at hand, the Kishin. You all know by now that he's been resurrected, and what a raving lunatic he is, but he's afraid ofhis own shadow! He may have some trouble regaining his strength after so many years, so we have plenty of time for preparations, at least I hope so.
Death: What we should be warry about is what he's indirectly outputting, the Madness Wavelength the Kishin, Asura, is not something to ignore. Stein, you're better at explaining these things, if you please...
Stein: Of course.
Black Haired Woman: Madness Wavelength? Am I right to assume it's a unique variation of a normal Soul Wavelength?
Stein: Basically, it's mainly due to the Wavelength coming from a godlike being.
Blond Haired Woman: Is this Wavelength dangerous in some way?
Stein: I'll make it simple. Every person has a little bit of this Madness within them, and the Kishin's very presence has begun to surge the trace amount in certain individuals, Human and Oozai alike.
Black Haired Woman: You mean that pink man there?
Zacharie: Correct. But it's not just people to look out for. My scientist has studied this Wavelength, and predicts a number of events that could rise because of it. Dormant Witches reawakening, geography shifts, whatever enemies you have made could also use this chaos to their advantage, you'd be fighting a war on several fronts. That is why we're here. The Oozai will be searching for this Kishin, and will provide any assistance necessary.
(Some while later. Didn't know what else to put here tbh.)
Maka walked through a stone corridor, the lower levels of the academy, a section used as temporary housing, which was the reason she came here. Standing by a door was Riivrax, who seemed to be waiting for her.
Riivrax: Hello Miss Albarn.
Maka: One of the Oozai, Nova I think, told me to come down here. Is it about Crona?
Riivrax: Yes. Lord Death has requested we put them under a "trial enrollment", but they don't seem to want to talk to anyone else. And since you were able to grasp their Soul Wavelength so easily, we believe you should help them out, like you did before. Do you think you can handle it?
Maka: I'd be more than happy to!
Riivrax: Such enthusiasm! Ok, then you can show them around the school tomorrow.
???: Oh, what am I gonna do, I'm lost...!
The blonde woman from before came from behind a hallway.
Riivrax: Oh, hello there! You're one of the Death Weapons, aren't you?
Marie: Oh? Uh, yes, my name is Marie, Marie Mjolnir! Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, it's just that this place is a maze!
Riivrax: No worry, we were just about to meet with the new "student".
Marie: You mean Crona? I think I'll do just that as well.
Riivrax: That is fine, just don't startle them, this one's been through great hardship.
Carefully, the blue Oozai opened the steel door, but nobody was inside.
Riivrax: Crona? Are you still-oh!
He was startled by the thin child, who sat curled up in the corner behind the door, instead of on the neatly made bed, which didn't looked to have been touched one night since they arrived.
Maka: Pardon me.
The young girl pushed past the Oozai, and Crona's expression immediately lit up with joy.
Crona: Maka!
Maka: What are you doing back there?!
Crona: The corner helps me calm down.
Maka: What? C'mon, let me help you up.
Crona: Oh? Um...ok.
Maka: Listen, you and me are gonna be best friends from now on!
Crona: Y-Yeah...
Marie: Hey there!
The pink haired child backed away in fear.
Maka: Don't worry, this is Marie Mjolnir, she's a new teacher.
Marie: Listen, I understand your fear of trying new things, I got a lot to prepare for myself. But I'm sure we can both get through it if we try hard enough, so just do your best!
Crona: Ok...
Riivrax: I must go speak with Proton, so I'll leave you to talk.
Maka: Ok then!
???: Albarn?
A small, black figure emerged from Crona's back. It was the Demon Sword Eric, but...smaller? His massive hands were no more than tiny boxing gloves, and his sharp spikes were rounded off, every part of him looked less threatening than before. You could almost say it was like he has become a child.
Maka: Oh! You're Eric, right? You look different, almost...cute?
Eric: Ah, right. Yes, the Shinigami confiscated the large number of souls within me, which explains my reduced form. But I don't really mind it, while my strength has diminished, I don't feel as, "stuffy", I never had a better night's rest after that.
Marie: Huh, you talk really politely for a Demon. No offense though!
Eric: It's alright, not all Demons are inherently evil. Now Ragnarak, Fen's Weapon, he's the polar opposite, Medusa was wise to fuse him with a warrior like Fen. I can only imagine what mental stress Crona would be forced to endure than they already have.
Maka: Right, Fen...
There was a short moment of silence before the Demon spoke again.
Eric: I know you're scared, Crona, I can feel the panic in your soul. But know what we are doing now is the right thing, and we can help Fen just as she helped us now. There's hope.
Crona: ...Yeah, yeah. I guess there is.
Maka: Don't worry, we'll figure this out. I promise...
(Meanwhile, in the DWMA Doctor's Office)
Riivrax: Alright I'm back, now what was it you found?
Proton: Take a look at this.
The cyan Oozai was using a large black laptop of sorts, displaying a blue soul, as well as a list of "statistics", labeled in the Oozai language.
Proton: Thanks to the Demon Sword's cooperation, we've learned a great deal of information on how the Black Blood operates. This this the soul of a normal Human, but this Crona's soul.
He switched to screen to a pink soul. It seemed normal at first, but the statistics were off the charts.
Proton: This substance not only enhances the body, but the mind as well. During combat, the blood has the ability to shut off pain receptors in the brain, as well as temporarily unlocking the strength our minds normally restrain subconsciously. It basically makes anyone with this stuff a walking tank. And this Madness Wavelength, the Black Blood acts as a sort of amplifier, which you undoubtedly felt when the Albarn girl was fighting.
Riivrax: That's right...Evan was contaminated with just a little bit of this blood, and yet now he and Maka possess a large quantity within their own. This weapon is unlike anything I've ever seen...no wonder Fen's trying to become this Kishin, his Madness Wavelength must be insanely high.
Proton: Good you mention that name, I found another one of his Experiments, the artificial Witch Vordaas.
Riivrax: Yes?
Proton: She's in the Oozai Realm now, but before that I ran some basic test on her DNA. It's a combination of Fen's genetic code, but mixed with the humanoid Booznians, their more "Human" than Oozai basically.
Riivrax: That's incredible, but how does he have the resources to create life? Our greatest minds still struggle on fully sentient artificial creatures!
Proton: That's what I was thinking, but this Human tech is no joke, it's not magic-based like we use, but they can come up with some real out of the box ideas, they've been on the road to making artificial organs for decades now, and they're starting to show promising results.
Riivrax: So he must be merging Human science with Oozai magic to create something like a Witch?
Proton: It sounds ridiculous but obviously it worked. The only question is what else can he make? If he's as smart as I feel he is, we could have a real issue here. Especially now that he's shown he's been replicating a less potent version of the Black Blood. He could very well create an army of insane magic users if left alone long enough.
Riivrax: Just like the Lokaal Incident??
Proton: Just like that.
Riivrax: Then this just got a lot more serious. And, on that note, what type of Enrollment Trial is Crona meant to do? I'm sure Fen will be quick to deal with betrayal, especially to one so close to him.
Proton: The Shinigami got a message in the Czech Republic. There's apparently a small village of Humans with a majority who call themselves Enchanters, they can use magic to the extent of making professional golems.
Riivrax: This village sounds like the kingdom of Koozai in our realm.
Proton: Pretty much. They say their oldest golem suddenly went on a rampage, and has started attacking the village. So Crona and the Alarm scythe girl are going there to handle the issue.
Riivrax: I hope everything goes well, that's awfully suspicious if you ask me. Golems don't have souls, so one shouldn't even be going on a rampage in the first place.
Proton: Don't worry, I suspect this to be one of Fen's little traps, so I sent a small team of Oozai ahead of time just in case things go south.
Riivrax: You think it's Fen? How are you sure?
Proton: I found a weak trace of his soul presence close to the area, it's not too strong, but he's definitely been at least near the village.
Riivrax: Your intuition startles me sometimes, how do you do it, Proton?
Proton: I'm a scientist, simple as that.
Next time, we'll see how Crona's Trial Enrollment plays out, I doubt very well.